Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Japanese , 1797
-
1861

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a student of Utagawa Toyokuni I, and was granted his name in 1814 as a combination of Toyokuni and Kuniyoshi’s birth name, Yoshisaburo. His early works are mainly kabukai actor prints in the style of his master, and he later incorporated bijinga images of beautiful women. In 1827, Kuniyoshi designed his first major series entitled, “108 Heroes of Suikoden,” based on a popular 14th-century novel about honorable rebels, that earned him much fame.

Of Kuniyoshi’s later work, his most unique subjects are his warrior images that emphasize the superhuman and his images of heroic women such as the series “Stories of Wise Women and Faithful Wives” (1840s).